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34-541: The Napoleon Diamond Necklace is somewhat atypical of other contemporary works produced by Marie-Étienne Nitot . Other pieces commissioned from him by Emperor Napoleon, such as the two parures celebrating the Emperor's marriage to Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria , the Marie Louise Diadem , the wedding jewels for Empress Joséphine , etc., all demonstrate a predilection for highly decorative flourishes in

68-533: A comb, and a belt buckle, all set with emeralds and diamonds in silver and gold. The diadem contained 79 Colombian emeralds and 1,006 diamonds. While the necklace and earrings are now in the Louvre , the diadem, with its emeralds replaced by Persian turquoise in the 1950s, is housed at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. This French business–related biographical article

102-590: A detailed diary most of her life, which reveals much about Austrian court life. She was deeply affected in 1867 by the execution in Mexico of her second son Maximilian. She never recovered from that shock, and withdrew from public life. She died from pneumonia in 1872. She was also noted for her close relationship with Napoleon II , who lived at the Austrian Court as the Duke of Reichstadt. There were rumors of

136-787: A number of significant pieces. He designed the Napoleon Tiara and the Imperial Sword. The tiara designed for Pope Pius VII was presented to the Pope during Napoleon's coronation in 1804. He also designed the Cameo Tiara for Joséphine before 1810, but no portraits of Joséphine wearing the Cameo exists (only one portrait of her daughter Hortense wearing the Cameo and dating from 1812 exists). Marie-Étienne Nitot actually designed Joséphine's entire Emerald Parure that belongs today to

170-431: A sexual affair between them. There was even suspicion that Maximilian, born two weeks before Reichstadt's death in 1832, was actually his child. These claims were never verified, but it is certain that they were very good friends and that his death affected her very much. She is said to have turned into the hard, ambitious woman described in fiction after he died. Through his son Archduke Otto Franz , Archduke Karl Ludwig

204-551: A small brilliant cut diamond. The four oval pendeloques are mounted above designs which incorporate 23 brilliant cut diamonds each. Each briolette mounting is set with 12 rose cut diamonds, bringing the total number of diamonds mounted in the necklace to 234. While the gems of the Napoleon Diamond Necklace have never been professionally graded or weighed by a lapidary (as they have never been removed from their mountings), infrared spectroscopic analysis of

238-734: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Princess Sophie of Bavaria Princess Sophie of Bavaria (Sophie Friederike Dorothea Wilhelmine; 27 January 1805 – 28 May 1872) was the daughter of King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria and his second wife, Caroline of Baden . The identical twin sister of Queen Maria Anna of Saxony , Sophie became Archduchess of Austria by marriage to Archduke Franz Karl of Austria . Her eldest son, Franz Joseph , reigned as Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary ; her second son, Maximilian , briefly reigned as Emperor of Mexico . The fourth child of King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria and Princess Caroline of Baden , Princess Sophie Friederike Dorothea Wilhelmine

272-623: The Napoleon Diamond Necklace around 1811–1812 to celebrate the birth of Napoleon II . The necklace, featuring 234 diamonds totaling approximately 263 carats, was gifted to Empress Marie-Louise and is now housed at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington , D.C. Nitot also designed the Marie Louise Diadem in 1810 as part of a parure that included a necklace, earrings,

306-516: The Royal family of Norway . The Leuchtenberg sapphire parure , now part of the Swedish royal family jewel foundation, is attributed to Nitot. The sapphires are thought to have been a wedding gift from Napoleon to his step-daughter Princess Augusta of Bavaria , Duchess of Leuchtenberg and then passed to the Swedish royal family with Queen Josephine . In addition to these creations, Nitot crafted

340-588: The British Secret Service and Princess Gervez Baronti, daughter of Prince Baronti of Italy, to sell the necklace on commission in the United States. The pair had enlisted Maria Theresa's destitute nephew, Archduke Leopold of Habsburg , to vouch for their characters, and promised her that the necklace would fetch at least US$ 450,000. There is little evidence that the pair attempted to reach that asking price ; after failed negotiations with

374-524: The Crown Jewels, Marie Louise took it with her when she left the country herself. She eventually settled in Parma , and continued to wear the necklace on public occasions for the rest of her life. With her son having pre-deceased her, the death of Marie Louise in 1847 saw her estate split between her remaining Habsburg relatives . The Napoleon Diamond Necklace passed to Archduchess Sophie of Austria ,

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408-594: The Crown Treasury ( Trésor de la Couronne ) dismantled and spread apart during and after the French revolution, and were exclusive providers of precious stones to Napoleon. Marie-Étienne Nitot died in 1809. Napoleon appointed his son François Regnault Nitot to succeed him. François Regnault Nitot operated until the fall of the empire in 1815. Nitot then sold his business to his foreman, Jean-Baptiste Fossin (1786-1848). As official jeweller to Napoleon, Nitot made

442-545: The Empress Joséphine, as she proved to be incapable of producing an heir. He re-married two months later to Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria . Within a year, Marie Louise bore a son, Napoleon II . To celebrate, in June 1811 Napoleon I commissioned two parures (one of which included the Marie Louise Diadem ) and the Napoleon Diamond Necklace from Marie-Étienne Nitot, his official court jeweler. He ordered that "all

476-492: The diamonds has shown that they are primarily colourless Type Ia . A smaller number—13 of the 52 largest diamonds—are of the rare Type IIa variety. A number of the Type Ia diamonds show indications of sulfide crystal imperfections. The total weight of the diamonds is estimated at 263 carats (52.6 g), and the weight of the largest diamond alone is estimated to be about 10.4 carats (2.08 g). In 1810, Napoleon divorced

510-559: The following week. At the start of the Great Depression in 1929, Maria Theresa sought to sell the Napoleon Diamond Necklace along with other inherited jewelry to bolster the family's finances. She made several attempts to sell it through agents, first to Fuad I of Egypt and again to a private collector in the Netherlands. After meeting with little success, she engaged two people presenting themselves as Colonel Townsend of

544-435: The framework. These range from silver scrollwork and floral motifs to complex interwoven curves. In contrast, the Napoleon Diamond Necklace is relatively simple and elegant. It consists of a single silver thread, with gold settings containing 28  mine-cut diamonds. Coming off of the central thread is a fringe of alternating pendeloque -cut and briolette -cut diamonds. The five pear-shaped pendeloques are each mounted below

578-400: The groom's widowed father, Francis II , in 1816. Sophie and Franz Karl had six children. Emperor Francis II was truly fond of Sophie. Although Sophie had little in common with her husband, she was a caring and devoted wife to Franz Karl who loved and respected her. Unlike her husband, Sophie was attached to all of her children, especially Franz Joseph , as well as Ferdinand Maximilian , who

612-407: The help of his son François Regnault (1779–1853), Nitot created jewellery symbolizing the power that Napoleon wished to convey. These include the wedding jewels of Josephine de Beauharnais and Marie Louise of Austria . Nitot also designed Napoleon's coronation crown, his ceremonial sword and many other court ornaments. Marie-Étienne Nitot also played an active role with his son into re-assembling

646-455: The incident, Maria Theresa held the necklace until her death in 1944. Four years later, the Habsburg family sold it to the French industrialist Paul-Louis Weiller . In 1960, Weiller sold the Napoleon Diamond Necklace to Harry Winston, who believed that the historical value of the piece would make it more valuable than if the stones were removed and resold individually, as was common practice at

680-641: The jeweler Harry Winston , an attorney named Harry Berenson, and the socialite Marjorie Merriweather Post , the pair eventually sold the necklace to David Michel, a gem dealer in New York City , for $ 60,000. From that price, the pair claimed $ 52,730 as expenses, remitting only $ 7,270 of the promised $ 450,000 back to Maria Theresa. When informed of the sale, Maria Theresa gave power of attorney to her friend Anna Eisenmenger, wife of Victor Eisenmenger , and enlisted her help in retrieving her property. Eisenmenger approached Michel, who eventually agreed to return

714-526: The leading jewelers of the world" be assembled to contribute the necessary number of diamonds. The necklace was designed by Nitot himself, and produced by his company in Paris, The House of Chaumet . Nitot had been commissioned to create several other pieces for the Emperor in the past, including Napoleon's papal tiara , his coronation crown, his ceremonial sword and the wedding jewels of his first wife, Josephine de Beauharnais . The profligate use of diamonds in

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748-622: The necklace for $ 50,000, taking a personal loss of $ 10,000 from the sale. She also sought legal redress on Maria Theresa's behalf. Soon after, Thomas C. T. Crain , the New York County District Attorney announced that the Townsends were sought on counts of grand larceny . The scandal reached the New York Times on March 1, 1930, along with initial reports that the Townsends had removed several stones from

782-436: The necklace to sell separately. These turned out to be false, but the pair fled the country and were never caught. "Princess Baronti" wrote in her self-published 1935 autobiography that the two of them passed through Chicago and then to England before separating, with Townsend planning to move to Japan and Baronti herself travelling to India until the scandal passed. Archduke Leopold was brought up charges of aiding and abetting

816-514: The necklace, and upon his death in 1896 passed it to his third wife, Maria Theresa of Portugal . As an exquisite and fashionable piece of jewelry with an insterestingly-storied history, Maria Theresa took every opportunity to wear the necklace to state events, including the coronation of Tsar Alexander III in 1883, where it proved popular enough among the guests that the Tsar requested it be displayed under guard to guests for several hours each day for

850-469: The piece—an incredibly rare gemstone given that modern sources such as South Africa and Siberia had yet to be tapped—was a deliberate display of extravagance on Napoleon's part. To emphasise this, he had the value of the completed necklace assessed by a separate jeweler, Ernst Paltscho of Vienna . Paltscho presented his assessment, 376,274  French francs , to the Imperial court the same year. This sum

884-551: The theft itself, and a separate charge of grand larceny for theft of the proceeds, having accepted $ 20,000 from the Townsends as payment for his character reference. Leopold voluntarily turned himself in and spent twelve days in The Tombs , a detention complex in Manhattan, before a neighbour posted his bail bond. He was eventually acquitted of the first charge, and had his conviction on the second count vacated. After resolving

918-457: The time she was called "the only man at court". During the Revolution of 1848 , she persuaded her somewhat feeble-minded husband to give up his rights to the throne in favour of their son Franz Joseph . After Franz Joseph's accession, Sophie became the power behind the throne. Historically, Sophie is remembered for her extremely adversarial relationship with Franz Joseph's wife Sisi , who

952-760: The time. As such, he kept it intact, reselling it the same year to Marjorie Merriweather Post . Post donated the necklace to the Smithsonian Institution in 1962, and it has since remained on display at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. , United States . The donation also included the original leather case for the necklace, commissioned by Napoleon in the empress's official colours (green and gold) and inscribed with her initials. Marie-%C3%89tienne Nitot Marie-Étienne Nitot (2 April 1750 in Paris – 9 September 1809)

986-460: The wife of Marie Louise's brother, Archduke Franz Karl of Austria . Two diamonds were removed from the necklace to shorten it, at the request of Princess Sophie. These diamonds were fitted to a pair of earrings, whose location is now unknown. When Sophie died in 1872, the necklace was jointly inherited by her three surviving sons, Archdukes Karl Ludwig , Ludwig Viktor , and Franz Joseph of Austria. Karl Ludwig later acquired his brothers' stakes in

1020-600: Was a French jeweller, the official jeweller to the Emperor Napoleon , and the founder of the House of Chaumet . Nitot's family was from Château-Thierry , he himself was born in Paris on 2 April 1750. After being an apprentice to Aubert, court jeweller to Queen Marie-Antoinette , he moved to Paris in 1780. He survived the French Revolution and, in 1802, was appointed jeweller to Emperor Napoleon. With

1054-526: Was also her niece. Elisabeth hated Sophie for being demanding and the upbringing of Elisabeth's children, but there is no evidence that the Archduchess had the same feelings, as Elisabeth is usually described quite pleasantly in Sophie's diary and letters. Nonetheless, she had better relationships with her other daughters-in-law and was a caring mother-in-law to Archduchess Maria Annunziata . Sophie kept

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1088-469: Was born on 27 January 1805 in Nymphenburg Palace , Munich . She was said to be her father’s favorite daughter although she was more attached to her mother, whom she loved dearly. Sophie adored her twin sister Maria Anna and was very close to all her sisters. On 4 November 1824, she married Archduke Franz Karl of Austria . Her paternal half-sister, Caroline Augusta of Bavaria , had married

1122-457: Was her favorite son. She had a reputation for being strong-willed and authoritarian by nature but she was also known as a familiar and sociable person devoted to her family and the Habsburg empire she married into. She enjoyed court life, dance, art and literature as well as horse riding. Her ambition to place her oldest son on the Austrian throne was a constant theme in Austrian politics. At

1156-456: Was the equivalent of the Empress's entire annual household budget. There are several contemporary portraits of Marie Louise wearing the Napoleon Diamond Necklace, including a number by the artists François Gérard and Giovan Battista Borghesi. Several years later, in 1815, Napoleon was exiled to Saint Helena . As the necklace was part of her personal belongings, rather than state property like

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